Sambal SOY CURL TACOS

Every time I’m set to make this recipe, I find myself snacking on the prepared soy curls alone. And then I’m left with too little to make tacos. So I make more again. Lather, rinse, repeat. But you get the gist: these are really, really, really good.

If soy curls cannot be found or if you generally avoid soy, try replacing them with 18 ounces (510 g) of prepared, plain seitan strips. —CS

MAKES 10 TACOS

6 oz (170 g) dry soy curls

Filtered water

½ cup (96 g) Sucanat

¼ cup (60 ml) brown rice vinegar

¼ cup (60 ml) mirin

¼ cup (60 g) Asian hot chile paste or sambal oelek (quantity to taste)

¼ cup (60 ml) shoyu

2 tsp (3 g) dried shiitake powder

½ tsp ground ginger

1 tbsp (15 ml) toasted sesame oil

½ medium red onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

Coarse kosher salt

Shredded Napa cabbage

Shredded carrot

10 (6” [15-cm]) corn tortillas, warmed

Thinly sliced scallion

Chopped fresh cilantro

Place the soy curls in a large bowl. Cover them with filtered water and allow them to rehydrate for 10 minutes. Drain well, gently squeezing out the extra moisture. Leave the curls in the colander to further release extra moisture while preparing the sauce.

In a small saucepan, whisk to combine the Sucanat, vinegar, mirin, sambal, shoyu, shiitake powder and ginger. Bring the mixture to a low boil, reduce the heat to medium and cook until thickened to about half the original amount. This should take about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally and adjust the heat as needed. Set the sambal sauce aside.

In a large wok or skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic and rehydrated soy curls. Top with a generous pinch of salt. Fry the mixture until golden brown, about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Adjust the heat as needed. Pour half of the sambal sauce onto the soy curls, and cook until absorbed and glazed.

Place a small handful of cabbage and carrot on a tortilla. Top with a generous portion of soy curls and a drizzle of the remaining sambal sauce (about 1 teaspoon per taco). Top with scallion and cilantro. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.

Leftover soy curls can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and reheated over medium-low heat in a skillet.

*SEE PHOTO INSERT